How to make a ... Lady Gaga

She might claim to have been “Born This Way,” but Lady Gaga did not get to be an international superstar on nothing but her own instincts. All artists are influenced by those who came before them.

If you’d like to try to hatch your own Gaga, follow our recipe below:

Two shots of MadonnaFrom the songs (can we stop pretending that “Alejandro” is anything more than “La Isla Bonita 2010?”) to the attitude to the intriguing fashion choices, there’s no question that Madge is the Grandmother Monster.

One shot of Ziggy StardustIf you’re going to ape someone, make it someone good. David Bowie challenged the music industry, the pop charts and the view of masculinity with his glam rock alter ego, Ziggy Stardust. In fact, Bowie struggled at times to separate that persona from himself — and it’s getting harder and harder to see the distinction between Lady Gaga the performer and Stefani Germanotta the person.

A splash of Michael JacksonGaga isn’t just about music, of course. She’s about spectacle, and it’s easy in that sense to see her longform music video efforts as the descendents of “Thriller,” the King of Pop’s biggest musical and cinematic opus.

A splash of Gwen StefaniMrs. Gavin Rossdale is hardly the first pop star obsessed with fashion, but of the more recent chart-toppers, the No Doubt frontwoman (and her personal clothing line) might be the only one to compete.

Garnish with the Gobbledy GookerIn 1990, a turkey mascot called the “Gobbledy Gooker” hatched out of a shell ringside at the WWF Survivor Series. In 2011, Lady Gaga arrived in an egg at the Grammys. It’s all just a little bit of (stupid) history repeating on us.